Clamp



Jan. Z8, 1958 T. L. BROWNLEY ETAL 2,821,001

` CLAMP Filed Deve. 1o, 1953 2 sheets-shea 1 w/LL/AM F. PAuLsL-w f ffm iTIORNEY o. N om Jan. 28, 1958 T. L. BRQWNLEY ET AL 2,321,001

' CLAMP Filed Dec. l0, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG4 INVENTOR rgEN/OLM L.Beam/LEY. w/LL/AM F PAULSE/u.

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ATTORNEY United States Patent 'O CLAMP y'rinomati L. Browntey andwilliam F. Paulsen, Aiken,

S. C., assignors to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Cornpany, Wilmington,Del., a corporation of Delaware Application December 10, 1953, SerialNo. 397,416 1 claim. (C1. 24-136) This invention relates to a clampadapted for holding rope-like objects, such as a bundle of textilefilaments or yarns, and is more particularly concerned with a clampsuitable for feeding fiber bundles to a cutter and which is adapted tohold the fibers firmly during cutting and then forcibly eject the cutfibers when opened.

Artificial fibers are spun in continuous lengths, whereas -most naturalfibers are produced in short lengths. In vorder to blend the two typesof fibers, it is necessary to .cut the artificial fibers intocorresponding short lengths or staple. Also, staple is frequentlydesirable so that the artificial fibers can be processed like wool orcotton, and lso that similar effects can be achieved in the products. lContinuot'ls filaments or yarns are most advantageously handled forcutting while in the form of a tow, i. e., a large number of filamentsor yarns gathered together as a single bundle. Cutting devices areavailable for severing such tows, but their eficient operation requiresthat the tow be held positively during cutting and that the cut fibersbe discharged readily afterward into a suitable receiver. A suitableclamping device should hold each individual filament in fixed positionrelative to the other filaments, so that all of the filaments will becut to a uniform length, and should release the filaments in a mannerwhich will provide for easy removal from the clamping device. This lastis especially difficult with filaments treated with textile finish, asthe cut fibers adhere to the clamping device and clog it to such anextent that it must be cleaned after each cut before the tow can beregripped for further cutting.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a clamp which issuitable for holding filament tow and the like for such operations ascutting and which will positively eject filaments when opened to providea self-cleaning feature. Other objects will become apparent from thefollowing disclosure and claim.

The manner in which the present invention achieves the desired objectswill become evident after a study of the drawings of a preferredembodiment, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the clamp closed on a tow of filaments,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the clamp in the open position after ejectingthe filaments.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional elevation of the clamp in the openposition, taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the component parts ofthe clamp.

The clamp comprises a hollow frame member which is attached to asuitable support by angle irons 11 and 12. A number of these clamps maybe arranged at intervals along a continuous conveyor belt, to which theyare attached by the angle irons, and operated to feed a continuous towto a cutter or other treatment. In such installations, frame member 10may be arranged to slide on surfaces 13 and 14 over a track, indicatedat 15 in Figure 3, and a roller 17, mounted on the frame membei, may bearranged to engage a groove in the track 2,821,001 Patented Jan. 28,1958 ICC to prevent longitudinal displacement of the frame member.

p A slotted frame extension is formed by two flat plates 18 and 20, eachof which is cut out to form a hook or V-shaped stationary jaw, 19 and 21respectively. A flat inner plate 22 is arranged for sliding movementbetween the outer jaw plates 18 and 20, and is cut out to form acomplementary jaw 24 adapted to cooperate with stationary jaws 19 and21, for holding a tow or other object, indicated at 30 in Figure l. Thisjaw is moved to the open position, shown in Figure 3, by means of camroller 25, designed to roll along the side of a cam track.

The construction of the clamp is most easily seen in Figure 4. The flatsliding member 22, in which jaw 24 is formed, is on the end of a rod 26arranged to fit snugly within hollow frame member 10. A reduced portion27 of the rod is adapted to receive a spring 23. The spring surroundsthe reduced portion and rests against the shoulder 28 formed at thejunction with the larger diameter portion of the rod. A washer 29 may beused between this end of the spring and this shoulder. The other end ofthe spring rests against the sleeve shoulder 31- of frame extension 32,a washer 33 being used at this point if desired. Extension 32 is boltedto the end of frame member 10 as shown in the other figures. Cam roller25 is mounted on tail piece 34 which is drilled to fit on a reduced endportion 35 of rod 26. The end of the rod is threaded at 36-and the tailpiece is bolted inplace with nuts 37 and 38. The cam roller 25 protrudesthrough a slot 39 (Figure 3) of suiicient length to permit movement tothe left, under the action of spring 23, until jaw 24 is in the closedposition.

The stationary outer jaw plates are secured to frame member 10 bybolting them on opposite sides of a lower tongue 41 and a shorter uppertongue 42. These tongues may be made integral with the frame member, asshown, and keep the stationary jaw plates in properly spacedrelationship to accommodate the movable jaw plate 22 between them. Theouter jaws are hook-shaped and face inward toward the frame member,while the inner jaw is hook-shaped and faces outward in the oppositedirection. When the tow 30, or other object to be held, is laid acrossthe opening between the jaws, as shown in Figure 3, and cam roller 25 isreleased to allow the spring to close the jaws, the hooked jaws surroundthe tow and hold it firmly under the pressure of the spring, as shown inFigure 1. A suitable spring is selected to give the required pressure,of course. The spring closing and design are such that the same clampcan be used to grip a variety of sizes of tows or other objectssecurely.

A highly important feature of the clamp comes into operation when it isdesired to release the object held, as after a tow has been cut throughon each side of the clamp to form a bundle of staple ber. The jaw platesare cut out in such a way that the surfaces opposite to the jaws slopeoutward away from the jaws. Thus in Figure 4 the surface 43 slopesupward to the left away from the hooked or V-shaped jaw 24. When the camroller 25 is moved to the right, this sloping surface 43 positivelydisengages the fiber bundle from the outer jaws 19 and 21, as shown inFigure 3. The corresponding sloping surfaces 44 and 45 on the outer jawplates 18 and 20 similarly disengage the bundle from inner jaw 24.Further movement of cam roller 25 to the right squeezes the fiber bundlebetween the sloping surfaces and ejects the bundle out of the openingsin plates 18, 20 and 22. This action provides a valuable self-cleaningfeature which is especially important if the fibers have been treatedwith a finish that is at all sticky.

Considerable variation is possible in the clamp design while stillretaining the important novel features of this invention. Pneumatic orelectromagnetic means may be `11s-ect tot openland close` the jaws,instead of the spring and canr arrangement' shown; The jaws can 1bemadein a variety of shapes to adapt them to particular clampingA problems.AInstead *of* the V-shape shown, they can be'roundedi square, hexagonal,etc: vEither jaw"24nor jaws 1(9and 21Vcan be at aisimple right angle,ifea, cut'pemendicular to the' direction of viewing in'FigureZ. -Theself-"cleaning surfaces` 43,44; andl` 45^'1can be cut atvariousjangl'es'. Ifl the langle approachesa; rightI` angle, instead' ofslopingasshown; `the iibersmayn'ot` bepuslied out? of'theopeninglinthe'plates 18, "21T-Land'4v 22'; but will 'still` be: quiteelectivelydisengagedfrom -theijaws While ther clamp 'illustrated bassaltotalof three."l jaw platesg, it involves only obviousmodificationsv` in*design* tui-,provvide` for' awgreater` numbergand" twomay j be sucientforrsorne uses; f f Y The clamp of` invention/hasproveniliiglrlyeffective' for.:handling'towsiduringgfcuttiiigtostaplewith4 the cutter; disclosedk inV the copendingapplicationY oflDonald Ri, H1111, SerialI NO; 304712', noW Patent No.7`2gr694447 ywhichapplication' is assigned: tothe assignee of the present application.However, Vtl'ie clanipsz are also useful' for feeding tow or other,objects to a' variety of treatments. 'For moreor less continuousfeedinga number *of* clamps may be mounted' for-forward movement onv aconveyor Vl'r'elt;v wheel, etc. VbeY stationary in position`- aind-jcpe11edL for `advancing or removingobjects beingftreatecl;v lA singleclamp-may For 'other operations theL clamps may berused inthe manner` ofa-vise where quick-closing to 3a'predeterminedpressur quickopening'andselfcleaning featuresare desirable: l

Since many'diierent embodiment'stofithefinventoir may '2,321,001 t u Y Al' n 7,

be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof,lit-istofbe1understoody thatA the-Minventionfisanot limited by thespecific illustrations except to the extent defined in the followingclaim.

What is claimed is:

A clamp comprising a pair of at outer jaw members in spaced-apartparallelrelationship, said members being cut out to form a pairofouter'aligned jaws facing a pair of aligned,outwardly-slbpingfisurfaces; a at inner jaw member` mounted-tto, slicleTbetween @saidn outer jaw mem bers, said inner member: being cut-'outtaformV an;l inner jaw facing; anLoutWardIyssloping, 'surface,.;said};innerf. jaw being in opposed relationship to said' pairof'outeraligned jaws-'andi imposition-fior" the opposed' iawsH tor-.lieL slidtogether to close on amobjectWsaidj. outer alignedV jaws being laterallyspaced apart to sldeably receive said inner jaw, said sloping surfacesassuming relative positions etfective to disengage a clamped object fromsaid jaws when theia'ws` are:opened;springifmeansffor urging said innerY iaw towardi said outerV aligned?y jaws and-means` for z-Refrlens:citerne-the: fue: of: mis-:patenti n i lUNITED? s'llaiflsiasPATENTS'202304`

